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Malaysia Says It will Appeal 'Allah' Ruling

KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia is bracing for a potentially bruising linguistic battle after its government vowed to challenge a court ruling allowing local Roman Catholics to refer to God as Allah.

The legal tussle is raising tensions between Malaysia's ethnic-Malay Muslim majority, who represent about 60% of this resource-rich nation's population, and its large ethnic-Chinese and Indian minorities. Muslim groups are preparing demonstrations against a High Court ruling on New Year's Eve to overturn a three-year-old government...